Content
by WelcomeToTheTeaParty
Summary: Ginny finds Hermione crying on the stairs and attempts to fix the mess her brother made, leading to revelations from both Hermione and a certain Bulgarian boy... Hermione/Viktor; set during GoF; oneshot.


_**I write what I like and I like what I write, even if it is far from perfection.**_

**A/N: This is my first time writing for Harry Potter. It's possibly a little OOC. No hate, please; however, constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

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"Ron, you spoil everything!"

Growing up, Hermione never really knew what it was like to have real friends. Back when she was attending muggle primary school, she was - quite like she is sometimes observed as now - branded a know-it-all, a nerd, and a swot by her fellow classmates. She was cast out without a second thought by the other children, and the teachers never even noticed her. There is almost always that one child in the class that is overlooked because of their quietness and shyness; unfortunately for Hermione, that child was her.

Only when Hermione turned eleven did that begin to change. No longer was she overlooked by her peers - in fact, she was actually praised greatly by the professors for her outstanding work at Hogwarts (with the exception of potions, but her teacher was Snape after all), and her classmates no longer looked at her as if she was nothing but mud on their shoe. After a few months she could, for the first time in her life, say she had friends. The icing on the cake? One of them was Harry Potter. Sometimes she couldn't help but stop, think, and smile at how surreal it all was.

On the contrary, for a smart girl, she should have known it wouldn't last.

As she wept on the staircase, the familiar emotions from her childhood swept over her once again. Dragging her eyes away from where her - former? - best friends had departed, she brought her hands to her face, not giving a second thought to her makeup. Hot, salty tears of pain, angst and sorrow cascaded from her eyes and down her cheeks - years of unhappiness repeating themselves in Hermione's mind.

"I guess friends and I just shouldn't mix," she muttered, sweeping her hands over her face to try to smudge away a few tears.

"So, _we_ shouldn't mix?"

Hermione stopped briefly, before her face scrunched up again and more tears began to flow.

"You know, the actual answer of that question should be 'No, Ginny, you're amazing!'," Hermione's red-headed friend said as she stepped down and sat next to the brunette and wrapped a pale arm around her shoulders.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Ginny asked, "I saw my brother leave with Harry. They didn't look too pleased..."

Hermione sobbed.

"Okay, sorry, wrong subject!" Ginny quickly apologised, tightening her grip on Hermione's shoulders; she quickly tried to change the topic.

"So, um... I saw you dancing. You were really good!" the younger girl spoke, "Krum, on the other hand, must have two left feet! At least his enthusiasm makes up for the 'moves'," she chuckled. Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"Do you think I'm overreacting?" she asked.

"Well, I wouldn't know, considering you haven't filled me in on what happened yet," Ginny replied.

Hermione explained the situation to her friend, who listened intently, a look of understanding on her face by the time the brunette had finished talking.

"He's jealous," Ginny said rather bluntly.

Hermione blinked; "Excuse me?"

"I've seen the looks Krum gives you, and I'm pretty sure Ron has, too,"

"But... why would Ron, of all people, be _jealous_?"

"Well, he may be a little annoyed at the fact he's spent the night looking like a girl," Hermione couldn't help but giggle in agreement at that, "But he _clearly_ wanted to go with you. Granted his way of asking was far from perfect, but let's be honest... when has Ron ever really spoken to a girl that isn't one of us?"

"He asked Fleur first," Hermione pointed out.

"And look how that turned out!" Ginny reminded her with a laugh, causing her brunette friend to laugh along with her.

"Don't let this get you down too much, okay? Ron will get over himself soon enough. You're his best friend,"

Hermione breathed out slowly, having finally gotten her tears under control; "Ginny? You said... you said Viktor looks at me...?"

"Oh yes, he does. A lot, actually. It's slightly strange to see, but I suppose being the object of such affection must be different," Ginny nudged her friend with her elbow.

"I hadn't noticed..."

"Of course you haven't!" Ginny said sarcastically.

"Honestly!"

"Well, why are you blushing?"

"I'm not!"

"Aren't you?" a new voice asked.

Hermione froze, not daring to turn around and face him. Ginny looked about, noticing the hallway was suddenly empty. Glancing at Krum, he nodded slightly.

"I'll leave you to it," she said softly to Hermione, before re-entering the Great Hall to find her other friends.

"She's a good friend," Viktor said.

"She is," Hermione replied quietly, still not looking at the older boy who was slowly making his way up the stairs towards her. Silence engulfed them for a few moments.

"Have you?" Viktor asked. Hermione frowned.

"Have I what?"

"Have you noticed my staring?"

Once again, the hallway was quiet.

"I am sorry..."

"Don't be," Hermione finally looked up at Viktor, who was only two steps below her by now. She smiled slightly, looking back to her lap, "It's sweet,"

Viktor smiled, before holding out his hand; "Would you like another dance... Hermione?"

The girl in question began to life her hand, however - after realising something - stopped, and smiled.

"You pronounced my name properly!"

"I shall admit, your friend did help me," Viktor replied, turning ever so slightly pink, "I care for you, you see; I doubted mispronouncing your name gave that impression,"

'_I care...'_

Hermione replayed the sentence in her head, Viktor's thick accent soothing and distracting, making her completely forget why she was upset in the first place.

"Okay then, another dance," Hermione said, finally taking Viktor's offered hand.

As Viktor lead his date back into the Great Hall, he caught the eye of Ginny, silently mouthing the words 'thank you' in her direction. She simply smiled in return before turning back to her own date, Justin.

Pulling Hermione close to him, Viktor gazed into her deep brown eyes as the waltzed slowly around the hall.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Hermione tilted her head upwards, just as Viktor began to lean his head down...

It was a soft, slow, sweet kiss, yet it managed to portray both of their emotions almost perfectly. Hermione - as strong as she was - had a very sensitive side that she was currently baring to Viktor, and he, in return, was wearing his heart on his sleeve as he slowly moved his lips against Hermione's.

Ginny glanced over at the pair and grinned in triumph. She just _knew_ that Hermione would fall for Krum! She may have been a quiet girl, but Ginny knew when someone had a crush; she was very good at reading people.

"Thank you," Viktor whispered, his forehead resting against Hermione's.

"For what?" the girl asked.

"For seeing me. The _real_ me, not the ignorant quidditch player everyone else sees," Viktor looked down at his shoes.

"You're in no way ignorant, Viktor," Hermione reassured him, speaking with conviction, "You are smart, kind, and caring. You don't even mind when we spend more time studying than talking!" this made them both smile a little.

"...And thank _you_, Viktor," she continued, "For not seeing me as a boring know-it-all..."

"There's no denying your beauty," Viktor interrupted before Hermione could put herself down any further, "But intelligence as well? Simply makes you all the more incredible,"

For the first time in her life, Hermione didn't feel the need to fit in; to simply do 'okay' in tests and spend time with other girls instead of in the library. Viktor made her feel comfortable in her own skin, just as Hermione made him feel that he was more than just an ignorant quidditch player. In the space of a few minutes, they'd managed to restore the missing pieces of each other.

In that moment, they were content.

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**A/N: Sorry to any Hermione/Ron fans. Thank you for reading!**


End file.
